Comets on Fire
Comets on Fire were a noise/psychedelic rock band originating from Santa Cruz, California. Founded by longtime friends Ethan Miller and Ben Flashman, the band would draw from the likes of Butthole Surfers and Hawkwind among a wide range of other influences to create rhythmically and sonically intense music that paid no attention to categorizations. Notably the band utilized a heavy use of Echoplex, used primarily on vocals but on other instruments as well. This often renders the lyrics unintelligible. Lead vocalist Miller also claimed to not remember the lyrics after putting an album together. In their original run spanning from 1999 - 2008 this quartet would evolve into a full quintet by their 2002 album Field Recordings From The Sun and, upon signing to Sub Pop in 2003, attain critical success with 2004's Blue Cathedral and 2006's Avatar. A common theme with the band's live shows was also their DIY aesthetic, often selling jams, live performances and demos by way of handmade CD-Rs and cassettes. In their original run Comets on Fire managed to release four albums amid a host of DIY releases and toured the United States and Europe. The band would go on a hiatus in 2008 with each of the members pursuing new projects but would reunite in 2013. History Graverobbers: Self-Titled and Field Recordings From The Sun (1999 - 2003) Comets on Fire would form in 1999, founded by longtime friends Ethan Miller and Ben Flashman. Working with initial drummer Chris Gonzales and Noel Von Harmonson, the band found their niche playing manic noise/garage rock swathed in Echoplex. The band would release their first demo known as Graverobbers in 1999, limited to 30 copies. One of the band's earliest known shows would be at the Saturn Diner in Santa Cruz on 3 October 2000, which would be recorded and given to labels for consideration.Discogs Comets on Fire would self-release their debut on CD-R (With a different tracklisting) and LP (Limited to 500 copies) in 2001 as the band began work on new material and toured around the West Coast. Retroactively this eponymous Comets on Fire would get more notoriety and praise when the CD would be reissued by Alternative Tentacles the next year. In an interview with KQED, Ethan Miller would speak of the first album and beginnings for Comets on Fire: The band would see a new drummer in Utrillo Kirschner in time for recording the band's second album. Expanding into more psychedelic rock territories rather than raw, noisy garage rock, Field Recordings From The Sun would be released via Ba Da Bing! Records on 22 August 2002 to relatively positive reviews. The band would perform more frequent shows around the West Coast, eventually releasing a live compilation entitled Live! From The West Coast 2002/2003 along with a split with Major Stars entitled Live in Europa. Notably one collaborator in Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) would join the band in 2003, fleshing out the band's lineup even further and leading the band to work as a collective team on their songwriting, rather than Miller writing all of the music.Penny Black Music The band also met one C. Spencer Yeh (aka Burning Star Core) who did an impromptu performance with them while they were jamming, which led to several collaborations. Wild Whiskey: Signing to Sub Pop and Blue Cathedral (2003 - 2005) Sometime in 2003 Comets on Fire would be offered a deal by Sub Pop and would sign to the label, initially releasing a collection of Jams as a promotional disc leading up to the band's third album. Working at Louder Studios with Tim Green (The Fucking Champs), Comets on Fire would release Blue Cathedral on 24 July 2004 to widespread critical acclaim, pushing the band to even further success. The record exposed them to a whole new fan base and the record found favor with enough people for Comets on Fire to tour as the opening act for Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Mudhoney among their own extensive touring. Notably the band would feature all sorts of live albums and rare CD-Rs & cassettes, sold only at shows. Notably among the lot were live performances, two full collaborative albums with Burning Star Core and even a multi-CDR box-set limited to ten copies. In an interview with Slug Mag, Ethan Miller would detail being signed to Sub Pop and the process of their limited tour-only merch: Lucifer's Memory: Avatar, Hiatus and Reunion (2006 - 2008; 2013) From January to April 2006, Comets on Fire would begin work on another album, working again with Tim Green at Louder Sound. Avatar would see it's release on 8 August 2006 to a generally positive critical reception despite the band's sound turning away from their psychedelic noise jams for a more subdued sound that ventures close to classic rock at times. In an interview with Magnet the band would sum up the comparisons between Blue Cathedral and Avatar: Comets on Fire would tour heavily through United States, Australia and Europe in support of Avatar. The band would perform at two of the All Tomorrows Parties festivals in 2006Last.fm with the band participating in ATP's "Don't Look Back" series in 2007 to perform all of "Blue Cathedral". The band toured frequently through 2007 and through the summer of 2008, culminating in an appearance at Sub Pop's 20th Anniversary Festival.Last.fm However, sometime after this tour the band would go on an extended hiatus. Ben Chasny would remain busy with Six Organs of Admittance, Rangda, 200 Blows and several other bands. Ethan Miller would remain active with Howlin' Rain (Formed in 2004), Feral Ohms and Heron Oblivion (With Noel Von Harmonson, Charlie Saufley and Meg Baird). Von Harmonson would keep active with several projects including Sic Alps. Utrillo Kushner would remain active with Colossal Yes. Notably Chasny would release a Six Organs of Admittance album entitled Ascent (20 August 2012, Drag City) which featured all four of his bandmates in Comets on Fire (Though members of the group have also collaborated on several Six Organs albums in the past.). In an interview with the Washington City Paper, Chasny detailed the process of Ascend, touring with Comets on Fire before joining the band and the contrasts between the two groups: Chasny would state that the band had not broken up but the future was uncertain as all five members remained busy with their own projects and family lives. Comets on Fire would get back together in secret after recording Ascent in 2012 to work on new material but once they got a special proposition had eventually begun rehearsing old material. Comets on Fire would play a warm-up gig on 26 November 2013 at the White Horse InnLast.fm and then on 29 November, perform the final All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Camber Sands, curated by Loop. In an interview with The Quietus the band would hint that new material was in the works along with stories and anecdotes of their wild partying experiences with previous ATP showcases.The Quietus Discography Studio Albums *'Comets on Fire' (2001, Self-Released; 2003, Alternative Tentacles) *'Field Recordings From The Sun' (2002, Ba Da Bing!) *'Blue Cathedral' (2004, Sub Pop) *'Avatar' (2006, Sub Pop) Live Albums *'Live at The Saturn Diner' (2000, Self-Released) *'Live! From The West Coast 2002/2003' (2003, Silver Currant) *'Bong Voyage' (2003, Silver Currant) *'Live On W.F.M.U.' (2004, Fuck Off And Di) *'Live At The Paradiso, Amsterdam 01.17.05' (2005, Silver Currant) *'Live At La Sala Rosa, Montreal 06.20.05' (2005, Silver Currant) *'Live At The Hobgoblin, Brighton' (2005, Silver Currant) *'Live At Arthurfest 2005' (2006, Sub Pop) *'Live At Butlins Holiday Resort, Minehead, U.K. 12.09.06' (2007, Silver Currant) *'Knitting Factory, NYC, 9.8.06.' (2013, Silver Currant) Other Releases *'Graverobbers' (Demo) (1999, Self-Released) *'Comets on Fire' (Demo) (2001, Self-Released) *'Live In Europa' (Split with Major Stars) (2003, Plastic Records) *'Jams' (Promotional Compilation) (2004, Sub Pop) *'Comets On Fire / Burning Star Core' (Collaborative LP with Burning Star Core) (2005, Yik Yak) *'Comets on Fire / Burning Star Core' (Collaborative CD with Burning Star Core) (2005, Yik Tak) *'The Black Cassette' (Jam Tape) (2005, Silver Currant) *'The White Cassette' (Jam Tape) (2005, Silver Currant) Members *'Ethan Miller' - Guitar, Vocals (1999 - 2008, 2013) *'Ben Flashman' - Bass (1999 - 2008, 2013) *'Noel Von Harmonson' - Echoplex, Drums (1999 - 2008, 2013) *'Utrillo Kirschner' - Drums, Keyboards (2002 - 2008, 2013) *'Ben Chasny' - Guitar (2003, 2008, 2013) *'Chris Gonzales' - Drums (1999 - 2002) List of Known Tours *'Blue Cathedral West Coast Tour' (With Wolf Eyes) (2004)Comets on Fire Official via Wayback Machine *'Blue Cathedral European Tour' (2005)/ Comets on Fire Official via Wayback Machine *'February 2005 Mini-Tour' (2005)Comets on Fire via Wayback Machine *'Comets on Fire & Growing Tour' (With Growing) (2005)/ Last.fm *'Avatar North American Tour' (2006) *'Avatar European Tour' (2006) *'2007 Australian Tour' (2007) *'2007 North American Tour' (2007) *'2007 European Tour' (2007)Last.fm *'2008 European Tour' (2008)Last.fm External Links *Comets on Fire Myspace *Comets on Fire Bandcamp *Treble Zine Interview *2005 interview via Under The Radar *Review of Blue Cathedral via Pitchfork *Review of Blue Cathedral via Tiny Mix Tapes */ Review of Blue Cathedral via Drowned in Sound *Review of Blue Cathedral via Exclaim! *Review of Blue Cathedral via Spin! *Review of Blue Cathedral via Head Heritage *Review of Blue Cathedral via Dusted *Review of Blue Cathedral via Sputnik Music *Review of Blue Cathedral via AllMusic *Review of Avatar via Treble Zine */ Review of Avatar via The Guardian *Review of Avatar via Pop Matters References Category:Band Category:Ben Chasny Category:Comets on Fire Category:Santa Cruz Category:California Category:USA Category:Sub Pop Records Category:Alternative Tentacles Category:Utrillo Kirschner Category:Ethan Miller Category:Noel von Harmonson Category:Ben Flashman Category:Psychedelic Rock Category:Garage Rock Category:Punk Blues Category:New Weird America Category:Noise Rock